FIGURE 3.

Effect of mind perception on the social relevance of observed behavior. (A) Participants are asked to perform a joint attention task (react as fast and accurately as possible to the identity of a target letter: “F” vs. “T”) with the robot EDDIE (designed by Technical University of Munich). Results show that changes in gaze direction are followed more strongly when the eye movements are believed to be intentional versus pre-programmed. (B) Grand average ERP waveforms time-locked to the onset of the target for the pool of O1/O2/PO7/PO8 electrodes show that the belief that eye movements are intentional enhances sensory gain control mechanisms, with larger P1 validity effects (i.e., difference between valid and invalid trials) for changes in gaze direction that are believed to be intentional (i.e., human-controlled, red lines) versus non-intentional (i.e., pre-programmed, green lines). (C) Topographical maps of voltage distribution (posterior view) show that observing an intentional agent (left panel) versus a pre-programmed agent (right panel) modulates mechanisms of joint attention in occipital and parietal areas (suggesting that attribution of mental states affects visual and early attentional processes). The time interval of the P1 component (100–140 ms) is presented in the upper panel. The time interval of the N1 component (170–210 ms) is presented in the lower panel. For more details see: Wykowska et al. (2014b).